Jake Neher

MPRN Capitol Reporter

Jake Neher is a state Capitol reporter for the Michigan Public Radio Network.

He joined MPRN in September of 2012. Before that he served as a reporter and anchor for WFUV Public Radio in the Bronx, New York, and as News Director for KBRW Public Radio in Barrow, Alaska. He has been working in radio in some capacity since he was 15 years old.

A native of southeast Michigan, Jake graduated from Central Michigan University in 2010. He has a master's degree in public communications from Fordham University.

Governor Rick Snyder is holding firm to his vow to stay in office amid growing calls for his resignation.

Both Democratic presidential candidates called for Snyder to resign during their debate in Flint. It was the first time former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said he should step down over Flint’s water crisis.

The governor says that’s not going to happen.

“I’m not resigning, I’m going to solve this problem,” Snyder told reporters after an appearance in Detroit on Monday.

Bills to ease penalties for minors who are caught with alcohol have cleared the state Senate.

Under current law, a first minor-in-possession (MIP) offense comes with a misdemeanor charge and possible jail time. The legislation would make it a civil fine. The state Senate approved the bill with overwhelming bipartisan support.

Supporters say one MIP offense can make it tough for young people to get a job.

“This is outrageous, criminalizing young people for having a beer or even a beer in their system,” said bill sponsor Sen. Rick Jones (R-Grand Ledge).

The top Democrat in the state House is calling on Gov. Rick Snyder to resign.

State House Minority Leader Tim Greimel, D-Auburn Hills, says he should step down “for his actions and inactions pertaining to the Flint water crisis.”

Greimel is the first high-ranking lawmaker to call on Snyder to step down since the scope of Flint’s water crisis became public and the state began action to resolve it. Snyder’s office voluntarily released emails recently that show top aides raised concerns months earlier.

Michigan corrections workers did not properly document prisoner transfers between October 2013 and September of last year. That’s according to a new report from the Michigan auditor general’s office.

It says workers failed to document key information such as prisoner counts, departure times, and reasons for the transports. It says that made it difficult for the department to monitor the transports.

Gov. Rick Snyder says his office will release all Flint-related emails dating back to the beginning of his administration in 2011, including the governor’s emails and staff emails.

Gov. Snyder says they’ll come soon – but has not given a specific date and time.

Snyder says attorneys need to look over the emails and remove any documents that would normally be exempt from public information requests. The governor is releasing the documents voluntarily, as his office is exempt from the Freedom of Information Act.

A state elections board has approved language for another petition seeking to recall Gov. Rick Snyder.

This is the first petition approved for circulation that cites the governor’s handling of the Flint water crisis as a reason to remove him from office. The board OK’d another petition earlier this month that references Snyder’s decision to move Michigan’s School Reform Office out of the Michigan Department of Education and place it under his direct control.

A group of state House Democrats hopes the crisis in Flint will help bring attention to other issues they say threaten clean water in Michigan.

They announced bills on Thursday that would increase regulations on fracking.

Democrats say there’s an opportunity to have a serious conversation about fracking and other water quality issues.

“Now that there’s a little more attention, this gives us an opportunity to go to our colleagues and say, hey look, here’s another threat, here’s another problem,” said state Rep. Jeff Irwin (D-Ann Arbor).

Detroit parents, teachers, and school officials were in Lansing on Tuesday to speak out on bills meant to rescue Michigan’s largest district.

Demonstrators gathered outside a state Senate committee hearing on Senate bills 710 and 711. Not to oppose the legislation, but to bring attention to the deteriorating state of Detroit Public Schools (DPS).

Bills meant to crack down on teacher “sickout” protests are moving forward in the Michigan Senate.

The bills would define the sickouts as illegal teacher strikes in state law. The protests have closed dozens of Detroit schools in recent weeks.

A legislative panel approved the legislation on Tuesday while adding more teeth to the bills. New language would temporarily block unions from representing teachers and collecting dues in districts where sickouts are happening.

State lawmakers say they’ve reached a deal to increase speed limits on some Michigan roadways.

On Tuesday, a state House panel is expected to vote on bills that could set speed limits on some highways as high as 75 miles-per-hour. The bipartisan bills would set speed limits based on studies that show how fast most drivers already travel.

Lawmakers were considering going as high as 80 miles-per-hour. But that plan stalled – in part due to safety concerns.

The state Senate could vote as soon as Thursday on emergency funding to help address Flint’s water crisis.

A state Senate panel unanimously approved the $28 million on Wednesday, as well as a provision meant to guarantee all Flint kids age zero to three have access to free developmental screenings paid for by the state.

“We’re actually investing directly in those kids in Flint that are most likely to have been ill-affected by lead poisoning,” said state Sen. Curtis Hertel Jr., D-Meridian Twp.

More than 300 Michigan inmates sentenced as minors to life without parole could get a second chance at early release. That’s under a U.S. Supreme Court ruling handed down Monday.

In 2012, the court ruled that sentencing minors to mandatory life in prison without the chance for parole was cruel and unusual. But it left it up to states to decide whether people sentenced before then should get resentencing hearings. The Michigan Supreme Court ruled they shouldn’t.

But now the U.S. Supreme Court says all so-called juvenile lifers should be able to argue for early release.